The start of something more
by JoMiSm
Summary: The origin of Natasha and Clint's partnership. :) WOOOOOO!
1. Chapter 1

With a small gasp, Natalia was shoved up against the brick wall, a strong archer's arm against her windpipe. His bow was discarded for this moment in time, as one arm was needed to keep the air out of the female assassin's lungs, rendering the bow useless. A gun, instead, was pointed at her forehead.

Agent Barton clicked the safety off of his gun, telling himself he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't look at her. He couldn't, he shouldn't, he really just needs to do his job and rid the world of the murderous Russian...

He looked into her eyes.

Behind the outrage at being pinned to the wall, behind the calmness hidden behind that, there was something. Something Clint wouldn't be able to explain later, something that would get him into worlds of trouble. A spark, the little bit of her that rebelled against who she was...it was hidden so deep that it was nearly impossible to see, but Clint saw it. He saw the possibilities.

"Come to SHIELD." Clint said, not even realizing he'd said it before he'd already spoken. Once the words were out of his mouth, he realized what a good and bad plan this would be, but she needed a second chance.

Natalia, still air deprived, gave him a dry look through her gasps for air.

"I'm not kidding." Clint said, his tone, his body language, and his eyes serious.

Natalia's eyes turned wide and disbelieving, her gasps growing smaller.

"Oh, give it up, I know you can hold your breath for ages." Clint said, returning her dry look.

Natalia, after a moment, planted her feet firmly on the ground, taking in a breath even through his chokehold and glaring at him. She mentally cursed. Her weakness ploy had failed.

"We could use you, Romanova." Barton said.

"Last thing I want is to be used." Natalia growled, somehow sounding dangerous even in this situation.

"That's not what I meant." Clint said, his tone sharper. The gun suddenly looked a lot more dangerous.

"Yes, you meant I would get complete and utter freedom seconds after I tried to kill their apparent best." Natalia said, but her eyes... The rebellious glimmer had grown fractionally. Convince her, Barton.

"Natalia, please." Clint said, his voice softening. "If you won't come...I'll have to shoot you." He'd never in his life done anything like this, and he'd never less wanted to shoot a target.

"Oh. Yes, that does seem to be all of my options. What about the third option?" Natalia asked, looking...too innocent.

"Third option?" Clint asked, confused. He didn't loosen his grip, but it didn't tighten either. Natalia mentally laughed at the stupidity of these American agents.

"Yes." Natalia said. "The one where I escape."

The instant the first syllable of 'escape' left her lips, she kneed Barton in the stomach. He stumbled back slightly, and that removed the arm from her throat. She kicked the now in action Barton in the head immediately, taking no chances. He dropped to the ground, cursing his lack of planning, of predicting, all the way into unconsciousness.

Natalia turned, already twenty feet before she stopped. Witness. He'd seen her face, he knew her fighting style. He was a liability.

She turned on a heel instantly, ending up over him in a mere second. Her bright red hair fluttered in the wind as she looked down upon the archer, aiming the gun at his head.

You will feel no pain.

You will feel no regret.

You will take out the liability.

The voices of her trainers chorused in her head, coaching her from the sidelines. As she mechanically clicked the safety off, her eyes flashed.

The offer... The tiny, tiny voice in her mind fought back.

The offer-it couldn't be real. Natalia's rational mind knew that. But she couldn't help but wonder...what would be so great about SHIELD, anyway?

Kneeling, setting the gun aside for a moment, she reached into the archer's pocket. A gun and a SHIELD ID were the only things there. She tossed the gun aside, disarming him without thinking. A knife, two, another gun, and his half-crushed quiver of arrows joined the pile, too far for the archer to reach.

Natalia looked down at his ID, still in her hand. 'Barton, Clinton F. Field operative. Clearance: level 6.' It read, among other things. Level 6... He is high up in his organization.

Looking back down at the archer, she sat the ID down, exchanging it for the gun again. She leveled the gun, but she had to remember.

When he looked into her eyes and saw the tiny spark, she saw something in his, too. There was his determinedness to get his mission done, yes, and the slight panic behind that because he was fighting THE Black Widow, and that was TERRIFYING, but she saw something behind that. Something... She couldn't place. Some brightness that she liked, that she was drawn to instinctively. The brightness that was never present in anyone she'd met before.

She couldn't place it because she'd never had it. Hope.

The hope that there was still some goodness left in the world.

The hope that even the soulless Black Widow could change.

The hope that the offer he tossed on the table would hit a nerve and cause her to maybe doubt her ways, at least just a little...

* * *

Twenty minutes later, agent Barton awoke. He felt instinctively for a weapon, cursing when there weren't any. He started in the direction she obviously would have gone, the one way that was not a dead end.

"Looking for someone?"

Barton stopped so suddenly, it was comical. He turned, looking toward her voice. She sat on a fire escape a story above him, the pile of weapons beside her, and no clear route to her location.

"Romanova." Barton said, wondering why she was still there. "Why didn't you run?"

Natalia avoided the question, tucking a red curl behind her ear. "What's so special about SHIELD, Cupid?" she asked, twirling an arrow in her hand. Interesting choice of weapon.

Clint rolled his eyes. "Cupid? Of all the names you could've chosen?"

"Well, it was between that or Robin Hood, but you don't seem like the 'steal from the rich and give to the needy' type." Natalia said, leaning against the precarious railing.

"You'd be surprised."

Natalia nodded in a 'I don't need the full backstory; trust me, I get it.' way. "The question still stands."

Clint opened his mouth to speak, but Natalia caught the look on his face. "And don't you start with 'Our side is the Good Side.' We both know every government is neither black nor white; they're all some shade of grey."

Clint shook his head. "I know we aren't perfect... But at least on my side, we're allowed to say no."

The words hung in the air, Natalia instantly flashing back to all of the times her conscience had screamed 'NO!' as she'd been forced on another mission... Her conscience had long since crawled into a dark corner of her mind and ceased its pathetic attempts at stopping her.

All that Clint saw was her green eyes flashing.

"Why should I trust you?" She said it more as a statement.

Clint thought through all of the answers.

"I haven't given you one yet. Let me earn it?" Clint asked, looking up at her earnestly. He was startled when, without warning, the woman disappeared from the fire escape.

He whirled around when a feminine voice said in his ear, "You can try."

He came face to face with a serious looking redhead. "What will happen once I get there, in detail. If you lie..." she clicked the gun in her hand, looking into his eyes.

"When you get onto the plane, you'll be cuffed, probably just your hands because they aren't prepared for someone of your status. When you get there, you'll probably have twenty guns on you at all times and you will be put into a cell while I am chewed out by my boss for bringing you back. You will probably be interrogated. And, if all goes well, you'll become an agent."

Natalia took this in. "And if it doesn't?"

"Then you'll escape, because we all know you can escape from anywhere."

Natalia's steady gaze never left Clint's stormy-colored eyes. He wasn't lying, she was sure if it.

She was never wrong when it came to liars.

"Okay. I believe you." Natalia said, stepping back and putting the gun in a holster. Clint blinked away his surprise.

"What about your guys. What're they gonna do when they find out you're gone?" Clint asked cautiously.

"They'll detect when this tracker, which I am not supposed to know about, goes dead. They'll assume that you killed me and come for you, and when they find out I'm not dead, they'll come for me. And they'll never stop looking." Natalia said, taking off her left earring and snapping it in half. A tiny blinking piece of tech sat there, otherwise well hidden in the pearl earring.

"How did you-?"

"Find it? I stepped on it once when I was fighting someone. They thought I'd died. They came like a pack of wolves, ready to rid the world of my assailant." Natalia said, setting it on the ground. "Get ready to run." Natalia warned.

Clint braced himself for an explosion, but the little tracker shattered easily under Natalia's boot. "Now a price is on your head. We'd better get somewhere untraceable, fast." Natalia said, taking off her other earring and tossing it to the wind because it'd look funny to just wear one. She turned, already halfway out of the alley before she noticed his hesitation. She turned around, seeing Clint's longing expression.

He was staring up at the fire escape, his bow and arrows the only weapons left up there. He was trying to puzzle out a way to get up there, but he couldn't see how she made it! He couldn't give up, however, because he needed THAT specific bow. It was made just for him.

"Действительно." muttered Natalia. Clint didn't hear her, and even if he did, he doesn't speak Russian.

"Natalia... Can you please get me my bow?" Natalia rolled her eyes discreetly. He was attached to a weapon. Weirdo.

Natalia walked straight up to the brick wall, placing her hands above her head, flat against the wall. Quickly, she climbed the wall using her fingertips and toes. Like, literally, twelve feet using only her gloved fingers and boot-clad feet. She threw down the bow and arrows, dropping down after them, sticking the landing with gymnast-like form.

"How-?"

"Minute suction cups." Natalia said, giving him an unimpressed look at his suppressed joy over his weapon of choice. "Now, do you have a safehouse somewhere nearby?"

Clint followed her hurried footsteps out of the alley and into the sparse traffic of the sidewalk. "None that they couldn't find." He murmured honestly, keeping his head down from the few shady-looking people on the street.

Natalia sighed. "I've got one." she murmured, giving a seductive smirk to a guy who was looking, suspicious, at them. He was instantly distracted. Natalia inwardly sighed at how easy it was.

"Wouldn't using one of the Room's safehouses kind of beat the purpose of using a safehouse?" Clint asked softly. Oh, shady guy was definitely following now.

"It's mine, not theirs." Natalia said, noting the flirty/suspicious man gaining on her. "Give me a second." Natalia said, slipping easily into a seductive persona.

"Hey, baby." 'Dude' murmured seductively into Natalia's ear suddenly from behind. He started into some invariably cheesy pick-up line, but he was cut off.

Natalia turned around, giving him a smoldering look. "Here's my number-meet me here in an hour." she whispered, pressing a piece of paper into his palm, looking nervous. She started to back away, but he grabbed her around the waist.

"Why wait?" he asked, coming very close to kissing her before she managed to get out of his grasp.

"Gotta ditch the boyfriend." Natalia said, motioning discreetly to the archer waiting impatiently a little ways away and biting her lip in a secretive way. The dude nodded, looking at her in a disgusting way Natalia knew too well. She sauntered back to Clint, throwing a sly wink over her shoulder as Clint dragged her away.

"What was that?" Clint asked softly, his eyebrows furrowed. That was a waste of time, that's what it was!

Natalia was still shaking her head about how naive the guy was-he really thought she was coming back. Loser. "That was me saving time."

"By flirting with some guy for no reason?" Clint asked, following her around the corner.

"Would you have preferred to fight half of the guys on that street? He had at least seven guys watching his back. If I took him down, we'd have them all to take care of-a bigger waste of time than flirting." Natalia said matter-of-factly, leading him around another corner to a black Jeep. "Get in." Natalia said, sliding into the seat and slamming the door.

"This is your standard issue?" Clint asked, envious.

"No. It's mine." Natalia said as Clint climbed in. She turned on the engine, the headlights illuminating the grey half-light of the dusk.

"How many things do you have that you've kept from them?" Clint asked, surprised.

"Enough." Natalia said, speeding away from the shady area.

They spent almost three hours after that in near-silence. Finally, after a trek through the woods post-Jeep abandonment, they came upon a well camouflaged cabin.

"We're here." Natalia announced, disabling a booby trap involving a wicked looking machete. Clint cautiously stepped in.

A bed was on one side of the room, a chest of drawers pushed against the wall. On the other side of the room, a tiny kitchen held a gently humming refrigerator, microwave, electronic can opener, and stove. A door to the back had to lead to a bathroom.

"Nice place." Clint complemented. No kidding-she could live here for months.

"Thanks." Natalia said, digging through the chest of drawers and pulling out a full outfit. She threw a shirt and some pants at Clint. "No shoes for you, sorry." Natalia muttered, going into the bathroom to change. About two minutes later, she marched out. Black combat boots, dark jeans, and a light grey tank top. Clint went in and emerged in dark denim and a light tee-shirt.

"You really planned ahead..." Clint said suspiciously.

"What is it you Americans say...? Always be prepared." Natalia said, looking up with newly-ponytailed hair. "Now, call your agency and tell them to meet us at these coordinates tomorrow. Say nothing more. The phones for thousands of miles are being tapped." Natalia warned, handing him a phone and a slip of paper with coordinates on it.

Clint quickly dialed Coulson's personal number. "Who are you and why do you have my number?" Phil immediately asked.

"Meet me at this location tomorrow." Clint said, giving coordinates. Coulson started to ask questions, but Clint quickly hung up.

"What now?" Clint asked, looking back at Natalia. He was surprised to see her smoothing out the blankets of a pallet on the floor.

"We rest. Then we get there tomorrow." Natalia said simply, standing and going to the kitchen. The dim refrigerator light illuminated the room more than the single light on the ceiling. She tossed some form of quickly microwaveable food at Clint, and they started their first awkward, untrusting night together.

* * *

**A/N DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG THIS IS?! OVER 2,000 words. Yeah, I deserve a review, guys. Btw I don't own the Avengers. Duh. **

-JoMiSm


	2. Chapter 2

_**WOOOOOAH thank you guys! I love you! Not joking at all, I individually fangirl over EVERY review. WORD FOR WORD. **_

* * *

Phil rapidly set up the voice recognition program on his computer, plugging in the file from his phone. The program whirred to life, loading slowly.

Maria Hill walked in as the program was running, noting the stressed Coulson. "It's him, I know it." He said to her, his back still turned. He had been freaking ever since Clint missed the pick-up time.

"Phil, he would've contacted you." Hill said, trying to do her job and be the voice of reason.

Phil started to reply, but was cut off by the recognition program blinking green. "Voice match, 100 percent."

Phil smirked into his coffee, already running the program to pinpoint the call.

"Oh, stop smirking." Maria muttered, not even having to see his face to know.

* * *

Natalia came back inside the safehouse after setting up more traps outside. Clint'd offered to help, but he was declined. She claimed his 'perfectly' camouflaged traps were visible from space.

"Hey." Clint greeted. Natalia nodded in return, sitting and deftly untying her combat boots.

Setting them aside, she leveled her gaze at him. "If I take a shower, will you try to kill me while my guard's down?" YEAH, RIGHT. Her guard is going to go down.

"Be my guest." Clint said, obviously meaning that he would not, in fact, try to kill her.

Not lying-she was surprised. "Okay." Natalia said emotionlessly.

Once she was showering, though her guard was up and she was even more attentive, Clint took a moment to assess his situation. She was in home territory, she was the better fighter, she had information about the enemy that they were running from, and her entire past was an enigma. Clint was the one taking her back to SHIELD... He was her ticket out of there.

Who exactly was threatening whom?

Snapping out of his thoughts, Clint stood quietly, looking at Natalia's chest of drawers. Not much was on it; a few scattered papers with the Red Room insignia on it, a pretty silver hairbrush, and, surprisingly, a gold, heart-shaped locket. Clint reached for the girliest thing Clint'd seen in Natala's wardrobe so far: the locket. Picking it up, he started to open it.

He was startled out of the task by the soft _click-click-click_ of the lock(s) on the bathroom door unlocking. Hastily, he sat it back down, taking a few steps to distance himself from the assumedly classified documents.

Natalia stepped out of the bathroom, not wearing, as is customary, pajamas, but real clothes. Clint looked at the clock. Eleven forty-five at night. "Aren't you going to sleep?" Clint asked.

"In case you've forgotten, we're wanted. I'm taking first watch." Natalia said. She gestured to the bed. "Be my guest." She said with a slight sense of irony.

"Uhhh..." Clint looked warily at the bed, then back to her.

"What, you think I'm going to kill you? It would have been simpler to do that in the alley." Natalia reminded him.

Clint nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed obediently and starting to unlace his shoes. Natalia unlocked the several locks deftly. "I'll be outside." Natalia said, stepping out. She didn't, believe it or not, plan to kill the archer.

Clint laid down on the bed, planning to stay awake. However, his body apparently did not get the message. As Clint's mind raced, he fell asleep, even despite his struggles.

Several hours passed as Natalia stared into the starry darkness, listening for footsteps or cars or anything at all. Nothing. As she saw the moon almost hit the horizon (but the sun not yet peeking into the sky) she turned on her heel and opened the door silently, stepping inside. Natalia was surprised to see that Clint was asleep, and even more surprised to find that he didn't wake up when she opened the door. He'd be dead in an instant in the Room.

"Barton." Natalia said quietly.

"Hmmft-I'm up!" Clint groaned, drowsily sitting up. He was momentarily confused by his location and the redhead standing there, but the events of the previous day caught up to him. He glanced at the clock. Four in the morning! Ugh. He swung his feet over the edge, standing with a stretch.

Natasha tossed her cellphone at Clint. "Call your handler again and tell him to be at the location in two hours." she commanded, turning to her kitchen cabinets. While he dialed the number, she pulled out two packs from under her kitchen sink; an inconspicuous hiding spot. She replaced the girls clothes in one pack with mens clothing, and viola! Good to go.

"Clint?" was Coulson's immediate answer as soon as he picked up the phone. "Are you okay?"

"Meet me in two hours at the location..." Clint looked at Natalia, and suddenly added another sentence. "And don't shoot on sight."

"What do you mean, shoot on-" Clint hung up the phone. Holding back a sigh, he tossed the phone back to Natalia. He hated worrying Phil. Natalia picked up on this and internally scoffed at the sentimentality of Americans.

Natalia slung the pack over her shoulder, sticking the phone in her pocket. "Here." Natasha said, holding the pack out to Clint with an unwavering arm. Clint took it, surprised at the weight.

"What all's in here?" Clint asked, slinging it over his shoulders as well.

"Stuff that'll save your life." Natalia said, handing him his shoes. He laced them quickly. Natalia darted around the room, quickly making up the bed, straightening drawers, and quickly grabbing her locket. The room looked untouched. Untraceable.

"Okay, let's go." Natalia said quietly, leading the way. She locked the door once they were outside, leading Clint around the traps she'd set carefully. Pretty soon, they were fully in the woods.

Natasha walked without making a sound, but Clint's steps went_ crunch-crunch-crunch._ Natalia muttered in Russian under her breath about 'noisy Americans' but, thankfully for Barton, he didn't understand Russian.

Afterwalking for about five minutes, Clint realized that they were heading in the complete opposite direction than the way they'd came, therefore leaving the Jeep. Also, fortunately for his pride, he realized that she was probably avoiding an ambush. They trekked for another five minutes in silence before Clint decided that he would go simply insane if someone didn't say something soon. _  
_

"So, where're we going?" Clint asked, dodging a branch that Natalia let swing back at him.

"If I told you the name, you wouldn't know the place." Natalia replied. At Clint's expectant look, she sighed and continued. "A small village a few miles from rendezvous point. I have a car there." Natalia grudgingly said.

"How far away is it?" Clint asked after a moment. The woods seemed endless in all directions.

"Do you always ask so many questions?" Natalia responded, ducking under a spider web.

"I've only asked two-AAGH!" Clint sputtered, swiping at the spider web covering his face.

Natalia easily suppressed a smile, though Clint didn't find it so funny. "It's not far. It's just-" Clint was startled when she suddenly threw her arm across his chest, stopping him suddenly. "Not an easy trip." Clint got the remainder of the spiderweb off of his face and looked down.

"Woah..." Clint said, scooting back skittishly. He had been inches away from walking right into a crevice. He looked down, then backed away again. "Urm, how do you plan to get across?"

"You've got a tricked out bow, right? Use it!" Natalia said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She gestured to his bag.

"How did you know it retracted?" Clint asked, grabbing his bow from a side sheath actually meant for a machete. At her sly look, he continued "You know what, I don't want to know." He unfolded his bow smoothly. "So, shoot a rope across?" Clint took aim.

"Wait!" Natalia said. "Don't aim there! That ledge is loose. Try..." Natalia pointed lower. "There."

"How do you know?" Clint asked, even as he adjusted appropriately.

"I've made this trip before." Natalia said. Not a pleasant experience. She did pretty much the same thing, except with a grappling hook. Halfway across, the hook had come loose. She free fell many feet before her rope caught her and banged her against the wall. Then, injured, she'd climbed the rope back to the top. And tried again. That time, she made it.

Clint made the shot, the arrow managing to find purchase on the other side. "I'll go first." Clint said, adjusting his pack on his back. Quickly, trustingly, he slid across using his bow as a zip line. Stumbling slightly, he landed on the small ledge.

"Okay, come across." Clint called. Natalia placed her hands on the rope, swinging down carefully. Clint gulped-he'd kind of forgotten that she didn't have a bow to slide on.

"Be careful." Clint called.

"Good advice." Natalia said, keeping the strain out of her voice as she carefully moved, hand over hand, over the rope.

What neither of them realized was that the rope was meant for one use with the bow only-and even then it was getting slightly frayed.

Natalia was halfway over the crevice when she heard the _plink-plink-plink_ of the rope snapping. She cursed. "Not again!" She quickly lunged for the bit of rope closer to Barton right as it snapped.

"Natalia!" Clint watched as she swung, far too fast to be safe, toward a rock wall.

In a split second decision, she decided to land with her feet braced-she'd get the least injured at the speed she was going. With a sharp breath, she hit the wall.

"Are you okay?" Clint called.

"I'm fine." Natalia lied. Her ankle was broken or sprained. Every little movement sent shots of pain up her leg.

"Here, I'll pull you up." As soon as he touched the rope, it moved so much that she hit her foot against the wall again. She showed no reaction.

"No, I can do it myself. " Natalia said. Gingerly, without using her legs, she climbed the rope directly vertical to Barton. With a little difficulty, she pulled herself onto the ledge, refusing Barton's outstretched hand.

"Okay." Natalia said, favoring her left foot discreetly. "Can you make It up?" Clint looked up. About eight feet.

"Sure, I can make it. You want a boost?" Clint offered. Natalia automatically started to decline, but... she might need just a little help at the moment.

"You go first, then help me up." Natalia decided. Clint nodded and jumped, reaching for the edge. He caught it successfully, pulling himself up, using his archers arms. Not an issue-for his particular skill set. But, given that Natalia was shorter than Clint, had an injured foot, and had no room for a running start, she was at a severe disadvantage.

"Okay, here." Clint said, reaching down for her. Natalia didn't hesitate to use her injured foot to give her a boost as she climbed up, Clint helping a lot. She exhaled sharply when she reached the ground, but otherwise showed no concern. Clint was oblivious to her pain...

until they took one step and she collapsed. Her foot simply decided that it could not hold her weight.

"Natalia?" Clint asked, worried. Natalia was instantly standing again, favoring her left foot noticeably.

"Broken ankle." Natalia said, like it was no big deal. She started walking again, albeit with a limp. Clint followed obediently, though he was reluctant. She wouldn't take help from him, but... he had to ask.

"Can I-"

"Help? No. I'm fine and we are behind schedule." Natalia replied, continuing the trek. Though Clint felt very bad about not being able to help her, he was sure she'd endured worse. They continued on in silence.

* * *

Natalia and Clint stood, about forty five minutes later, in front of an old but well-kept hotel in the middle of a tiny town. "Follow me. Don't act suspicious." She commanded. Clint nodded, watching their back nonchalantly. No one was behind them that he saw. Good.

"_Hello_." The man behind the counter greeted in Russian. He was very old and frail, but he was in on a lot of secrets. He had a little power in the huge power struggle that is Russia, and that made him an asset.

_"Good morning_." Natalia replied, smiling at him while descreetly checking for people. No one was around, visibly. "_How is business_?"

He took the hint. "_Very slow. I only have a few customers on the top floor_." Natalia nodded and stopped acting like the polite person who just happened to walk into a hotel at six in the morning. "_What do you need, Miss Romanoff_?"

"_My car_." Natalia said frankly.

"_Give me a moment_." He replied, walking out the back door. Natalia turned back to Clint.

"What'd he say?" Clint asked. Natalia blinked in surprise.

"You don't speak Russian?" Natalia asked. He shook his head in the negative. She started to reply when she heard the frail old man speak from outside.

_"Talia, you can come out now, dear_." He called, his voice friendly and neural...

Clint started toward the voice, but Natalia held out a hand to stop him. "It's a trap." She murmured. "He would not call me dear if it wasn't; it's the safe word." Natalia peeked imperceptibly out the window. "Two men holding a gun to his head, three guards between us and them, and a sniper on the roof across the street. It's a small search and retrieval team." she said.

Clint blinked. A small search-and-retrieval team in his agency was two, three people, tops.

"You take down the sniper." Natalia said softly. Natalia unbuttoned her long sleeved shirt, shrugging it off to reveal her catsuit under her clothing. She double tapped a bracelet on her wrist and, to Clint's surprise, it glowed blue.

"Three, two..." With no more warning than that, she threw open the door, hitting two of them before they could even calculate that the door was opened. They shook, their eyes rolling back in their heads, and fell to the ground, a nearly invisible current of electricity about them. Clint unhesitatingly took down the sniper and one of the other men, but before either one of the assassins could kill/disable the last man, he ran at Natalia.

In a normal hand-to-hand situation, he'd be immediately dead. In this situation, he immediately tried to sweep her feet out from under her and kicked her injured foot. Already having to concentrate to walk without falling, Natalia fell instantly. She did recover quickly, blocking the foot aimed at her throat. Clint's arrow put an end to that fight almost before it began. Natalia shoved him off of her, standing and walking to the car with a very, very obvious limp.

"They have reinforcements less than two minutes away; I know their protocols." Natalia said, throwing the gear in the back of a Marussia B2. "_I recommend heading to your safehouse._" Natalia called to the frail man, who didnt seem at all surprised at the fight. Clint sat his gear carefully in the back, climbing into the shotgun seat.

"Cool car." Clint said as Natalia cranked it. Considering how very absurd that boyish complement was at this moment in time, Natalia didn't grace him with an answer. She stepped on the gas, zooming away as the room got ever closer.

* * *

**This is almost 3,000 words so I am splitting this chappie in half. :) please review; this took a lot of effort. **

**-JoMiSm**


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